


Buddy Aurinko, Mom to all

by magznus



Series: TPP [13]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Anxiety, Aurinko Crime Family, Crying, Fights, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Trauma, identity crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26185855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magznus/pseuds/magznus
Summary: The crew of the Carte blanche has their fair share of issues and sometimes someone needs to step in and be a mother to the small useless family. For some reason, that person always happened to be Buddy AurinkoOtherwise known as Five times Buddy had to act like someone's mom, and one time, someone acted like hers.
Relationships: Buddy Aurinko & Aurinko Crime Family, Buddy Aurinko & Jet Sikuliaq, Buddy Aurinko & Juno Steel, Buddy Aurinko & Peter Nureyev, Buddy Aurinko & Rita, Buddy Aurinko & Vespa Ilkay & Peter Nureyev & Rita & Jet Sikuliaq & Juno Steel, Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: TPP [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639732
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Buddy Aurinko, Mom to all

**Author's Note:**

> otherwise called, I have mommy issues

1  
It was well past Peter Nureyev’s bedtime, he had a strict schedule that he did his best to maintain while on the carte blanch and that included his sleep patterns being in order. But tonight instead of being tucked into bed next to Juno, he was wandering the silent halls of the ship.   
Nightmares weren’t unusual occurrences for him, but they had been less and less frequent since he had joined the small family and that had only helped to leave him more shaken up than usual when he awoke from the latest terrors his brain could conjure. He had managed to escape the bed without Juno waking up and had left the small bedroom as quickly as possible.  
It didn’t seem like anyone but he was awake and so Nureyev didn’t expect to be interrupted as he stepped into the ship’s kitchen. It was a surprisingly big room, with plenty of counter space and even a decent-sized table in the corner that Peter planned on making use of. Knowing that the kitchen was far enough away from the bedrooms that he wouldn't wake anyone up, Peter flipped on the lights.  
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and when they did, Peter came to the sudden realization that he was not alone.  
“Good evening darling, getting a midnight snack?”  
Peter spun around so fast he almost slipped. “Ah, um Buddy, I mean...captain. What are you doing up so late?”  
“You know, couldn’t sleep thought I’d come to get something to drink.” she gestured to the small teacup in front of her. “Care to join me?”  
Peter nodded, slowly walking over to where Buddy had left the last of her tea, pouring his own cup before joining her at the table. It was something herbal, Peter had never been any good with teas, but it tasted good so he didn’t say anything as he carefully sipped the hot liquid.   
”What’s got you up so late Pete?”  
“Oh, plenty of things I suppose. Nothing too exciting I’m afraid.”   
“Hm, you know Peter, you are only such a good lier if the person you’re lying to isn’t expecting it.”  
Peter looked suddenly up at her, “I’m sorry?”  
Buddy just smiled “I’ve known you for how long Pete? Six months? And do you really think that hasn’t been long enough for me to know when you’re lying to me, or when you’re putting on a mask?”  
“Ah, well...you see.”  
“You don’t have to explain yourself, darling, I understand. Our lives don’t tend to let us easily trust, it’s natural to lie even to our family.”  
“Yes, I supposed it is.” Peter fiddled with his now empty cup. “I’m sorry, I’m not good at this.”  
“Oh I am well aware” Buddy laughed “You are a lot more transparent than you think Pete, oh don’t give me that look! It’s not always a bad thing for your family to know you. I think it’s much too late for either of us to be awake, don’t you?”  
Buddy stood up slowly, making a show of stretching her arms out before picking up both of their cups to put them in the sink. Peter watched her clean up carefully, trying to talk himself into actually getting up and heading back to bed.  
His struggle was evidently more obvious than he thought, for soon enough Buddy was gently grabbing his hand and pulling him up to follow behind her. She turned the light off before leading him down the hall and to the room he shared with Juno.  
“Think you can sleep now, Pete?”  
“Yes, I think so.”  
Buddy smiled in a way that showed she knew he wasn’t lying. It should have been infuriating, but to Peter’s surprise, it was almost comforting.  
“I’m glad, sleep well darling.”  
2  
It had been a long week for everyone aboard the carte blanch, they had spent days on end doing repairs after their latest, and most disastrous heist. It seemed everyone was exhausted and annoyed, even more than usual.   
Juno had been spending the day assisting Jet on the engines, they had worked in relative silence the entire day and had been doing fine. That was until Juno fucked it up.   
At least that's what it felt like, he had been sitting quietly, handing Jet tools and helping when he was needed. Jet laying on the ground underneath the engine when Juno had accidentally knocked over the toolbox. He hadn't meant to, he had been fiddling with the handles when they slipped out of his grasp and trembled to the ground with a crash. Jet had jolted upwards in shock, smacking his head on the underside of the engine.  
"Fuck! Juno!"   
And that had been it, Juno had frozen as Jet continued to curse in pain. The larger man, much larger Juno suddenly realized, toward over him with anger written all over his face. Juno shrunk back in fear, unable to force out an apology. He couldn’t move, couldn’t say anything, just sat there looking up at Jet.   
“Juno?”  
“Mista steel?”  
“Juno, what’s wrong?”  
“Juno darling, are you with me? Juno?”  
He had moved, he knew that much. There was someone standing over him now that wasn’t Jet. They were talking to him, trying to get his attention as he apparently had a panic attack.   
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine” he tried to make his voice as level and convincing as possible. “Not sure exactly what happened but yeah I’m fine”   
In front of him, Buddy chuckled. “Neither am I, you scared poor Jet half to death when you took off. Darling, what happened?”  
Juno was only just beginning to get his breathing under control, finally looking around to find that he was sitting on the ground in the corner of the room he shared with Nureyev. Buddy was sitting next to him and looking at him expectantly.   
“I’m really not sure Buddy. I mean I don’t even really remember what happened.”  
“Well according to Jet, you two were working on the engine and when he stood up after you dropped the toolbox you just froze and then, well you took off.”  
Juno sighed, “Right, yeah. I guess I just...I don’t know froze as you said.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“Um, no?”  
“Hm, alright. Well, let’s get you off this floor and into something a bit cleaner.”  
Juno looked down as she was pulling him up and realized that he was in fact covered in oil and engine grease still. He scrunched up his nose as the smell hit him and Buddy laughed.  
“Why don’t you go take a shower and get changed?”  
***  
Once showered and changed Juno stepped back out into his room to find Buddy sitting on his bed with the lights dimmed down to almost nothing. She was holding a blanket he recognized as one of the weighted ones they usually kept in the infirmary to use as a shock blanket. She smiled as he stepped closer and held out the blanket to him.  
Juno joined her on the bed, letting her drape the blanket over him. As the weight settled over his shoulders he felt the last of the anxious tremors disappear. Juno let out a content sigh and relaxed into the blanket. Next to him, Buddy smiled  
“I believe you’ve had quite a day darling, why don’t you lay down and take a nap okay?”  
Juno just nodded in agreement, letting himself be lead down onto the bed.  
“Can you,” He yawned as his eyes closed “Can you send Ransom over once he gets done helpin vs’pa?”  
“Of course dear.”  
3  
“Oh this is bad, that is really bad” Rita walked back and forth in front of her computer as she muttered under her breath. “Oh he is gonna kill me, I messed up and now it’s all ruined dang it Rita!”   
In front of her, the computer screen flashed a series of numbers over and over before returning to the HCPD website homepage. She had been trying to access some files for Jet but something had gone wrong and she had been kicked out of the system. Now she knew that there was no chance h=of her getting back in without being noticed, and they knew she was there they would be able to track her, and they were able to track her, they were able to find the whole crew. And oh god, now she was really worried.   
A soft knock on the door to her room snapped Rita out of her anxious pacing, she just about jumped out of her skin as she spun around to face the door.  
“Ye-yes? Come in!”  
“Rita?” The door opened quickly to reveal a worried-looking Buddy, “Is everything alright? I thought I heard yelling?”  
“Oh, everything is fine Miss Captain Buddy!” Rita stepped in front of her computer, trying to look casual. “Why would you think everything wasn’t alright?”  
Buddy looked at her confused before stepping further into the room, “Are you sure about that darling?”  
Rita nodded, doing her best to keep a calm and level head as she went to respond. “Oh, miss Buddy I messed up so bad! I didn’t mean to I swear! I was just trying to help, Jet asked me to and I thought maybe I could get a little extra for him as well but then I got caught and locked out of the server! And don’t you worry I didn’t let them track me or figure out anything about me, But I can’t go back in or else they will! And I didn’t get what Mista Jet wanted and I fail completely and, and, and-”  
“Alright darling, it’s alright.” Buddy shushed her gently, “Why don’t you sit down for a moment?”   
Rita let herself be lead down into her chair, Buddy pushed her down by her shoulders while reaching for the small box of kleenex she kept on the desk for particularly sad streams. With careful hands, Buddy whipped away her tears and turned off her computer, all while shushing her each time she started trying to apologize.   
“Now Rita, why don’t you explain to me exactly what happened.”  
“Well-”  
“Take it slow darling, for both our sakes.”  
“Alright, Mista Jet wanted me to get some files for him from the hdpc database. I got in just fine, and I found what I was looking for. I wanted to be helpful so I figured I could get some other stuff too, but then, Oh captain I really messed up. I wasn’t payin attention and all the sudden someone knew I was there and I was getting booted from the system. I lost all of it, everything Mista Jet needed and all the other stuff I found. I’m so sorry Captain really dang it, Rita, I messed this all up.”  
“Darling don’t be so hard on yourself. Jet told me about the files he had you looking for, they aren’t something we need. And even if they were I’m certain you are more than capable of getting them without getting caught.” Buddy smiled walking casually toward the door “But for now that isn’t our problem. It’s been a hard week for the whole crew, I think what would be best for all of us is a family movie night. Don’t you?”  
4  
It had been a long week of doing nothing but research and preparation for a heist job that was still almost a week out. To say that Juno was exhausted would be an understatement. He had spent most of the day in the carte blanch’s common room along with Nureyev and Jet, they had been studying in silence for hours only speaking to share or ask for information.   
Juno’s head was resting precariously on his hand, his eyes drifting closed even as he tried to keep reading from the book in front of him. A quick glance up showed that the others weren’t faring any better. Jet’s head was drooping downward, and Nureyev had set his book up so that he could rest on his crossed arms.   
“How’s the studying going everyone?” Buddy’s chipper voice broke through the sleepy haze. “Have any of you managed to take a break once today?”  
Juno wiggled his free hand, “Eh”  
Buddy rolled her eyes, “Come one, all of you” She walked over and closed the book Nureyev had been staring at. “I think that’s enough for today, Vespa is cooking dinner and I expect all of you to be in the dining room in ten minutes.”  
They all nodded as she turned and left. And ten minutes later found the entire crew at the dining room table. The smell of curry filled the small room as Vespa brought out a large bowl and placed it on the table.   
Buddy sat down at the head of the table, “Alright, I want everyone to eat at least a full serving.”  
The family all dug in, eating in comfortable silence. Juno had been surprised that Vespa was the best cook on the ship when they had first arrived, and now he thought she was one of the best cook’s he had ever met. Though he would never say it to her face.   
“This is real good miss Vespa! I like how you got all the things all mixed up in there.” Rita spoke through a mouth full of food, next to her Juno cringed.  
“Come on Rita, close your mouth please.”  
“Sorry boss.”  
Juno sighed, “it’s okay, just” he yawned “ just gross.”   
“Alright,” Buddy stood up from her seat. “Everyone has been working twice as hard to prepare for this heist, and I am so proud of all of you. But I think we have been working ourselves to the bone with this, and I have decided that the next two days there will be no work allowed.”  
Peter’s head shot up from where it was falling forward into his curry bowl “What? Captain I must protest I don’t-”  
“Oh shush Pete, you are falling asleep at the dinner table. You don’t have any room to argue.” Buddy’s calm voice didn’t match her words at all. “Now, all of you are going to finish eating and go to bed. I don’t want anyone up until at least noon tomorrow understood?”   
“Yes ma’am.” Juno smiled, standing up to put away his ow empty bowl. He walked past Nureyev who was still looking indignantly at Buddy. “Come on Ransom, let’s go to bed.”  
“No, but-”  
“Pete, you of all of us have been working the hardest this week. You need the rest darling.”  
Juno smiled “Come on, bedtime.” He reached down and pulled on Nureyev’s arm. “Nope, not here in bed.”  
Nureyev only protested for a few minutes before finally giving in and letting Juno practically carry him out of the room.  
“Good night darling” Buddy waved before turning to repeat the process with Jet and Rita  
5  
Peter Nureyev didn’t often make an appearance on the carte blanch. It had taken Juno weeks after their first heist together to get Peter to truly let down his guard even in the privacy of their own room.   
So now alone in the bathroom he couldn’t bring himself to drop the character of Peter Ransom, belive him he tried. He tried over and over, to drop his shoulders, change his accent, even just stand slightly differently. But no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t, and it scared him.   
Peter Ransom stood tall, his shoulders squared. When he talked his voice always rung out with an aloof accent. Peter Nureyev had always slouched, something he had been smacked upside the head for more than once. He spoke slower, carefully with a thick brahman accent.   
Now Nureyev just wanted to relax, drop the act, and feel like himself in a safe place. The only problem was he didn’t know how to do that. No matter how much he knew logically that he was safe, he couldn’t seem to get past the anxiety and fear that had always followed him.  
He stood in the middle of the bathroom, looking down at his hands as they began to shake ever so slightly. He concentrated, trying to drop the character, then he could stop the shaking. Just drop the act, loose Peter Ranson for even just a moment. The shaking just got worse. Peter couldn’t make it stop, no matter how hard he tried.  
There was a soft knocking on the door, it was almost enough to distract him from his own mind.  
“Pete? Are you alright in there?” Buddy’s voice was soft through the door.  
He tried to respond, but his voice caught in his throat, and only a small croak made it’s way out.   
“Peter? Can you open the door for me?” She was starting to sound worried. “Darling, I need you to let me in.”  
Something about her wording pulled Peter out of his own head, if only for a moment. Just long enough for him to turn around and yank the door open. Buddy stood on the other side in her nightgown, looking worriedly at him.   
“What’s wrong?” Buddy stepped into the bathroom.  
“I...I...I”  
“Pete? Darling, It’s okay. Take a deep breath for me, come on you can do it.” Buddy moved into his space, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Listen to me Peter, you can do this. It’s going to be okay, just breathe for me.”  
It took him what felt like hours to be able to breathe again, his hands had stopped shaking enough for him to reach up to wipe at his eyes.  
‘“I’m, well I’m sorry captain. That was quite a display of emotion and I’m not sure where it came from but I assure you-”  
“Peter, Peter it’s alright. There’s nothing to apologize for.” Buddy’s thumb rubbed calmly over his shoulders as she spoke. “Now, it’s late and we both need to be in bed. And I’m sure Juno is missing you.”   
+1  
“Alright, that’s it! Sit down! All of you!” Buddy’s voice was commanding as she slammed her hands down on the table.   
The rest of the crew looked at her in shock from where they were standing. They had been having a peaceful dinner until a fight had started between Juno and Vespa. As with most things in the small family, it had been blown out of proportion and now everyone except Buddy was standing around the table yelling at each other.  
At the sound of her voice, the shouting stopped, they all sat down slowly in the sudden silence. Buddy had now stood up and was glaring down at all of them.   
“I have had it with all of this fighting! We are supposed to be a family, but it seems all any of you can do is bicker constantly. So we are going to sit here and talk it out like adults.” Buddy took a deep breath “Now, why were you all yelling today?”  
“Um, well.” Juno tried to stutter through an answer.  
Vespa huffed, “Steel started it”  
“I think-”  
“I was only supporting Juno,” Ransom was doing his best to look unaffected.  
Jet nodded, “I was simply trying to help deescalate.”  
“Well really-”  
“Oh as if you weren’t totally on Vespa’s side!”  
“Juno dear, let’s not start a whole other argument.”  
“Please just, Stop!” Buddy was once again sitting, her hand now holding the bridge of her nose. “I can’t even ask a single question without it dissolving into an argument. And I really don’t know what to do with- Rita? What’s wrong?”   
“I, I, I, I’m sorry!” Not even Juno, who was sitting next to her was able to stop Rita as she stood abruptly and ran from the room.   
“Shit,” Juno deflated “I should go get her.”  
“No” Buddy stopped him “Just, wait, please. I don’t know what that was, and Juno you can go and make sure she is okay. But first, I want all of you to honestly think about what the hell just happened! Not only have you managed to start multiple fights over dinner, but in doing so you’ve hurt a member of our family. This behavior is entirely unacceptable, I may call this our family, but you are not children. Stop acting like it! I can not believe we have to have this conversation and I am so unbelievable disappointed that even after months of living and working together this is still hapening. I’m not your mother, and I’m not going to act like it.   
Now can you all please try and get along? At least for tonight, just not fight for the rest of the night.”  
Juno stood up slowly, speaking softly as he did “I’m really sorry. I’m honestly not sure what started this but I’m sure it was something stupid, and I’m sorry for letting it get that far. Um, I’m gonna go check up on Rita now.”   
Buddy watched him go with a sigh.  
***  
Juno had left Rita’s room only after calming her down and watching a few hours of her comfort streams together. She had insisted that she was okay, shooing him off to his own room at well past midight. Her face was tight and her head stil hurt from crying, all Rita wanted to do was lay down and get some sleep.   
A soft knock on her door interrupted her nightly routine of scrolling through the latest stream news. Rita got up from her bed and opened her door. On the other side was Buddy, smiling softly down at her.   
“Hello dear, how are you feeling?”   
Rita smiled back “Much better miss Buddy, thank you.”  
“I’m glad. I’m so sorry for how you were hurt durring dinner today, that behavior was compleatly uncalled for.”  
“Oh it’s alright, I talked to mistah Steel about it and he was real sorry. He acts tough but he’s really soft, especially when he feels bad about something.”   
“I’ve noticed, I hope that tomorrow you get an apoligy from everyone else as well. I just don’t know how to get them to act like a family!”  
Rita sighed, “You know, from my experience, all that fightin and arguin and stuff is exactly what a family is like. I mean sure we argue a bunch, but we still love each other. And the fightin has gotten a whole lot better from when we first got here. Miss Vesp hasn’t thrown anything at mistah Steel in a real long time, and mistah Ransom is a lot more open with everyone! Sure sometimes it gets bad and we argue and make each other cry, but only sometimes, and that’s what family is about. Only making each other cry sometimes, and feelin real bad about it afterwords.”  
Buddy laughed “That was wonderfully said darling, oh look at me. I came in here to make sure you were doing okay, not to be comforted.”   
“That’s okay too miss Buddy, I mean I’m real good at this sorta stuff. And I am older than you, it only makes sense that I stepp up and be the mom sometimes too.”  
“I’m sorry you’re what?”

**Author's Note:**

> this fic took ages and was so goddam hard! Please leave a comment to make it feel worth i.


End file.
